Understanding Escorted Tour Itineraries

Posted on Monday, October 31, 2011

Thinking about taking an escorted tour?  Here is a glossary of some common terms used in our itineraries:

Visit - Your coach will stop and you'll get to visit a specific site.
View - A brief stop and an opportunity to take photos.
See - Your Insight coach will drive by the site so that you can see it.
Sightseeing tour - A local city guide will accompany you on a tour of a city or site.
Orientation tour - Places of interest are pointed out, allowing you to go and explore them on your own.
'Why not see' or 'perhaps enjoy' - These phrases refer to optional excursions not included in the tour package, but are available for an additional fee.
Time to explore and discover - Free time on your own.
A day to relax - No planned activities; time for optional excursions or other independent activities.

Our tour specialists are always available to help you understand what is included on a tour vacation, so that you can plan how much money to budget on your European vacation.

Christmas Markets: Vienna

Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011

Images of St. Nicholas- with his devilish nemesis, Krampus- Advent wreaths, twinkling lights, roasting chestnuts, sausages and kartoffelpuffer (potato cakes), hot glühwein and fruity punsch... all signs of Christmastime in Vienna! Many Christkindlmarkts big and small grace Austria's capital at yuletide, and you'll explore two of the major ones. Magic's in the air at the Wiener Christkindlmarkt  on the Rathausplatz in front of the city hall, Vienna's oldest and largest Christmas market... live music, tastefully lit trees, holiday arts and crafts, tempting treats and smiling faces are everywhere. And at the opulent Schönbrunn Palace, you'll tour rooms that the Habsburgs once lived in, and browse through lovely hand-blown glass ornaments, red Viennese hearts, Victorian-style sweets and other treasures in the palace's own, equally impressive Christmas Market... guaranteed to warm your heart.

Christmas Markets: Passau

Posted on Saturday, September 17, 2011

Navigating the narrow lanes and archways of this Bavarian town on the Danube and Inn rivers is a pleasure any time of year- but never more so than now, when the Christmas Market transforms Passau's historic Baroque center into a wonderland brimming with bratwurst, lebkuchen, glühwein and good cheer. At the center of it all is St. Stephan's Cathedral, whose massive pipe organ- the largest in Europe- stars in concerts throughout the season. Your day in Passau includes a visit to Café Simon to see how they've been making their delicious gingerbread for four generations.

Christmas Markets: Regensburg

Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2011

Sausages and song are big in Regensburg, as your visit to its centuries-old Christkindlmarkt on the Neupfarrplatz will attest. Market goers feast on the city's famed sausages, along with steamed dampfnudel dumplings, gingerbread, roast chestnuts and, naturally, glühwein from Bavarian claret, as they admire the work of glassblowers, chandlers and potters, and listen to the joyous strains of the acclaimed Regensburger Domspatzen choirsome of whose alumni will perform on your riverboat tonight! The Thurn und Taxis family's Palace of St. Emmeram is the setting for your exclusive tour and visit to its private Christmas Market.

Christmas Markets: Passau

Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2011

Navigating the narrow lanes and archways of this Bavarian town on the Danube and Inn rivers is a pleasure any time of year- but never more so than now, when the Christmas Market transforms Passau's historic Baroque center into a wonderland brimming with bratwurst, lebkuchen, glühwein and good cheer. At the center of it all is St. Stephan's Cathedral, whose massive pipe organ- the largest in Europe- stars in concerts throughout the season. Your day in Passau includes a visit to Café Simon to see how they've been making their delicious gingerbread for four generations.